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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet -1.

T. G. BARRAOLOUGH.

MACHINERY FOR ROLLING AND EXPANDING METAL TUBES.

No. 473,651; BatentedApr. 26,1892.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. T. C. BARRAOLOUGH.

MACHINERY FOR ROLLING AND EXPANDING METAL TUBES. No. 473 651.Patented'Apr. 26, 1892;.

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(No Model.) 3 Shet-s-Sheet 3..

. T. 0. BARRAGLOUG H. MAOHINERY FOR ROLLING AND EXPANDING METAL TUBES.

No. 473,651. Patented Apr. 26, 1892 Fay. :3.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS (JRITCHLEY BARRACLOUGH, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

MACHINERY FOR ROLLING AND EXPANDING METAL TUBES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 473,651, dated April26, 1892. Application filed May 11, 1891- Serial No. 392,254. (Nomodel.)

ribs by means of a mandrel from a hollow in got or weldless tube or froma welded tube, with the object of being subsequently treated so as toproduce seamless or weldless bodies for barrels or other similarvessels.

My invention in its preferred form consists in the combination, with alower roller or roll mounted in fixed-bearings, an upper roller or rolldriven in the same direction as said lower roller, movable hearings inwhich said upper roller is mounted and which are normally kept down bypowerful pressure, vertical guideways for said movable bearings, meansfor driving said rollers in the same direction,

and means for forcing said movable roller toward said fixed roller, anda counterpoise adapted to lift said upper roller and its bearings whenthe downward pressure thereon is removed, of a mandrel for carrying thetube to be operated upon adapted to enter between said rollers and amandrel and tube carriage revolubly supporting said mandrel and adaptedto run said mandrel with the tube to be operated upon sidewise intoposition between said lower and upper rollers when the upper roller islifted by said counterpoise and to maintain it in position during therolling operation and while said upper roller is kept down by powerfulpressure and to withdraw it from position when said pressure is removedand said counterpoise again lifts said upper roller, said counterpoiseconstructed to permit the free operation of said mandrel and tubecarriage sidewise toward and from said rollers.

If the tube to be rolled and expanded has internal ribs, it willgenerally have been produced by inserting into a hollow ingot orweldless tube or a welded tube when heated a round mandrel of steel orother suitable metal having circular grooves corresponding with the ribsto be produced and then passing the ingot or tube with its mandrelseveral times through a set of suitable rolls, such as are used forrolling round steel bars; but this preliminary operation and themachinery for effecting it form no part of my present invention, as Ican operate by means of my machine upon a tube placed on a mandrel ofcorresponding size and form no matter how the tube may have beenproduced.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly insection, on the line C D of Fig. 2, and the rails Z Z being also insection, of a machine constructed accord ing to my invention. Fig. 2 isa side elevation, one of the hydraulic cylinders being shown inmid-section. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan on line A B of Fig. 2.

(t is a bed-plate.

b b are two main housings fixed on said bed-plate and held together bycross-stays c c.

' d d are two rollers of chilled cast-iron, steel, or other suitablematerial placed one above the other in a true vertical line between thehousings Z) I). The lower roller d has its necks or journals in fixedbearings formed in the lower portion of the two housings Z) Z), whilethe necks or journals of the upper roller (Z are in bearing-blocks e,which can rise and fall in guideways f in the housings. These blocks eare preferably made in two parts, as shown, so as to take up the wear ofthe brasses g. The driving-power is connected to thelower roller cl, andis transmitted to the upper roller cl by gearing so arranged as to causethe two rollers cl d to revolve in the same direction. This revolving ofthe two rollers in the same direction is necessary in order to producethe required expansion of the tube. The gearing shown in the drawingsconsists of a toothed wheel h on the shaft of the roller (1', a toothedwheel 71; on the shaft of the roller d, and an intermediate wheel 2',gearing with both the wheels h and h and transmitting motion from theone to the other. It is obvious that any other suitable arrangement ofgearing may be substituted for that shown, provided the rollers cl d aredriven in the same direction.

The round mandrel (marked q) having the tube to be operated upon outsideit and in the state in which itleft the bar-rolling mill is placed inopen-top-bearings p of a carriage m, mounted on rails Z l, which aresupported partly by the housings b h and partly by standards 7c. Thecarriage m is then run forward until the mandrel q and tube are exactlybetween the top and bottom rollers (Z d, a stop or catch insuring thatthe carriage shall be pushed only so far as will bring the mandrel andtube exactly into position.

To allow the mandrel and tube to enter between the rollers, the upperroller (1 is counterpoised, so that it is forced up, except whendownward pressure is applied, as hereinafter described. Thiscounterpoising in the preferred arrangement, which is that illustratedin the drawings, is effected by weights 8 on the ends of levers .9, oneat each side of the machine. These levers are fulcrumed at If, and theirother ends are connected by links If to lifting-plates u, from whichvertical rods,

no rise to the bearing-blocks e of the upper roller. The downwardpressure above referred to is obtained from hydraulic cylinders w w onthe top of the housings b I), this pressure when applied overcoming thatof the counter-Weights. When the machine is in motion, this pressure isapplied to the upper roller 61 and the tube on the mandrel begins togradually expand or increase in. sectional area by bulging out at thesides of the mandrel, and at the same time it becomes reduced inthickness. It is obvious that other power such as that of screwscan beemployed in lieu of hydraulic power, as described, for exerting downwardpressure on the bearing-blocks 6.

Although it is preferred that the upper roller cl should be the rollermounted in movable bearings, it is obvious that the lower roller d maybe mounted in movable bearings, in which case the bearings of the upperroller will be fixed. The vertical guideways f will then be adapted tothe lower roller 61 and the hydraulic or other power for exerting thenecessary pressure will be arranged below the lower roller, so as to actupon this roller and force it toward the upper roller cl. Thecounterpoise will be unnecessary, as the lower roller will descend ofits own weight when the hydraulic pressure is removed.

When the tube has thus been sufficiently expanded, it is withdrawn,together with the mandrel, from the machine. The mandrel can then bereadily removed from the tube, and the latter can, if required and afterhaving been heated in a furnace, be submitted to the action of a machine(such as that forming the subject of another application for patentfiled by me May 11, 1891, Serial No. 392,253) for giving it the form ofa barrelbody with or without a swell or belly.

If desired, the tubes may be heated in any known manner during therolling and expanding process. I

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In machinery for rolling and expanding metal tubes, thecombination,with a roller or roll mounted in fixed bearings,a roller orroll driven in the same direction as the first-named roller and mountedin movable bearings, said movable bearings being fitted in verticalguideways and normally forced toward said fixed bearings by powerfulpressure, means for driving said rollers in the same direction, andmeans for forcing said movable roller toward said fixed roller, of amandrel for carrying the tube to be operated upon adapted to enterbetween saidrollers, a mandrel and tube carriage revolubly supportingsaid mandrel and adapted to run said mandrel with the tube to beoperated upon sidewise into position between said lower and upperrollers, substantially as set forth.

2. In machinery for rolling and expanding metal tubes, thecombinatiomwith a roller or roll mounted in fixed bearings, a roller orroll driven in the same direction as the first-named roller and mountedin movable bearings, said movable bearings being fitted in verticalguideways and normally forced toward said fixed bearings by powerfulpressure, means for driving said rollers in the same direction, andmeans for forcing said movable roller toward said fixed roller, of amandrel for earrying the tube to be operated upon adapted to enterbetween said rollers, a mandrel and tube carriage revolubly supportingsaid mandrel and adapted to run said mandrel with the tube to beoperated upon into position between said lower and upper rollers and tomaintain said mandrel there in position during the rolling operation,and a counterpoise arranged to lift said upper roller and its bearingswhen said pressure is removed to permit insertion and withdrawal of saidmandrel and tube, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In machinery for rolling and expanding metal tubes, the combination,with the lower roller or roll mounted in fixed bearings and an upperroller or roll driven in the same direction as said lower roller,movable bearings in which said upper roller is mounted, means fordriving said rollers in the same direction, vertical guideways for saidmovable bearings, and hydraulic cylinders normally exerting downwardpressure on said movable bearings, of the counter-weights s, levers s,carrying at their outer ends said counter-weights, fulcrums t for saidlevers, links t, engaging the other ends of said levers, lifting-platesa beneath the inner ends of said levers and to which said levers areconnected at the centers of the plates, and vertical rods 0, connectedrigidly and equidistant from said links to said plates to at their lowerends and extending thence upwardly on opposite sides of the rollers andengaging said movable bearings at their other ends, said partsconstructed to transmit the counterpoising force of said counter-weightss to said movable bearings for said upper roller, whereby when said hy-IIO draulic pressure is removed the roller 01 and its bearings e arelifted, substantially as set forth.

4. 1n machinery for rolling and expanding metal tubes, the combination,with a lower roller or roll mounted in fixed bearings, an upper rolleror roll driven in the same direction as said lower roller, movablebearings in which said upper roller is mounted and which are normallykept down by powerful pressure, vertical guideways for said movablebearings, means for driving said rollers in the same direction, andmeans for forcing said movable roller toward said fixed roller, and acounterpoise adapted to lift said upper roller and itsbearings when thedownward pressure thereon is removed, of a mandrel for carrying the tubeto be operated upon adapted to enter between said rollers, and a mandreland tube carriage revolubly supporting said mandrel and adapted to runsaid mandrel with the tube to be operated upon sidewise into positionbetween said lower and" upper rollers when the upper roller is lifted bysaid counterpoise and to maintain it in position during the rollingoperation and while said upper roller is kept down by powerful pressureand to withdraw it from position when said pressure is removed and saidcounterpoise again lifts said upper roller, said counterpoiseconstructed to permit the free operation of said mandrel and tubecarriage sidewise toward and from said rollers, substantially as setforth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

THOMAS CRIIO HLE Y BARRACLOUGH.

Witnesses FREDERICK DAVEY, GEORGE O. BACON.

